Description
Book Synopsis"Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious ... these photos are not simply about 'serving looks' but about restlessness and identity and transience. That world is full of possibilities because Grayson has given himself the freedom to be whoever he wants to be, to look how he wants. His gift is that he passes that freedom to us. Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography." - Suzanne Moore
"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!" — Martin Parr
Grayson Perry is an award-winning artist best known in the art world for his ceramic works. To the wider public, he is perhaps equally famous for his cross-dressing alter ego. This book reveals a unique relationship between Perry and renowned portrait photographer Richard Ansett through a previously unseen archive from photoshoots spanning over 10 years.
Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas. Beyond the snazzy outfits and cheeky poses, these thematic portrait collections offer wry social commentaries on current and popular phenomena, including the EU referendum, American pop culture and the existential questions of life and death.
At once glossy, fabulous and cutting-edge, Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry offers a complex, fascinating and ultimately affectionate insight into our recently knighted national treasure with anecdotes and narration from Ansett himself, this is a masterpiece of rhetorical observations and quick-thinking camerawork. Perfect for art geeks, style freaks and Perry’s long-devoted following.
Trade Review“Richard Ansett’s images do not flatter to deceive… humour offsets a gritty realism.” - Diane Smyth
"An act of genius…he is the skeleton from which all the other meat hangs.” - Boris Mikhailov
"Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious ... these photos are not simply about 'serving looks' but about restlessness and identity and transience. That world is full of possibilities because Grayson has given himself the freedom to be whoever he wants to be, to look how he wants. His gift is that he passes that freedom to us. Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography." - Suzanne Moore
"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!" - Martin Parr
“Through his engaging portraits and text, photographer Richard Ansett has provided a visually exciting and thoughtful insight in to one of Britain’s national treasures, Sir Grayson Perry, and on society itself.” - Dr Michael Pritchard, The Royal Photographic Society
“As the subject I look at these photographs with a joy and a horror. Joy in that they are funny and delightful, horror in knowing that I am that raddled old trannie. It is always fun to work with Richard and he takes a beautiful photo and always captures very clearly what I look like, and I have to deal with that. They are both ridiculous fantasy and crumpled reality.” - Sir Grayson Perry CBE
"Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women's clothes than the average woman!" - Martin Parr CBE
“Outrageously fun and deliciously over-the-top, this book provides a fascinating peek behind the proverbial petticoats of one of Britain’s best-loved artists, Sir Grayson Perry.” - Janet Hardie Senior Specialist, Modern British and Irish Art, Bonhams
"In spite of Perry’s extravagantly costumed veneer there is empathy and commentary in this portrayal – through Richard Ansett, we get to Grayson Perry and beyond!" - Clare Freestone, Curator of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery
“Grayson is incredibly difficult to work with and complete diva.” - Richard Ansett
The Martin Parr Foundation has accepted 'MUSE - A Portrait of Grayson Perry' into its prestigious library archive. The collection of over 5000 photobooks has been carefully curated by Martin Parr. While the library is primarily dedicated to works from Britain and Ireland, it also contains some of the best photobooks from around the world. - Martin Parr Foundation
"Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas." - The Eye of Photography
"Created in part to promote the artist’s successful Channel 4 documentary series, they serve as beautiful, simple echoes of the themes he explores in his pottery and epic tapestries." - The New European
"Painting the town pink Sir Grayson Perry attends the launch of Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry by Richard Ansett at Iconic Images Gallery in London. The book showcases the relationship between the colourful artist and the portrait photographer via previously unseen photoshoots spanning more than 10 years." - Daily Telegraph
Fashion journalist Rich Pelly ask Grayson Perry for fashion advice at the launch of an exhibition and book at Iconic Images Gallery, London. - Guardian
"Some are artists, some are muses — Sir Grayson Perry is both, according to a new coffee table book." - The Standard
"Muse documents Perry’s Bowie-like range of personae, from his alter-ego Claire, to Madonna and child, to a Dolly Parton-style American country girl." - Yahoo News UK
Table of ContentsIntroduction 6
Conception 12
First interlude 20
American beauty 28
Second interlude 40
Birth 48
Third interlude 58
Death in Islington 68
Fourth interlude 78
Land of hope and glory 86
Transfuturism 98
Credits 112
